Damn it, Jim, I'm a cataloguer not a poet... or maybe not

Well, here we go again. I seem to recall having said in the past that I've never considered myself a poet. I tend to write things more along the line of short stories in the genres of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, and yet the first work of mine to be published is to be "Nightmares and Nameless Fears". Granted, that particular poem certainly shares the genre and tone of many of my stories, but truthfully I was a bit surprised to see it accepted for publication.

Nonetheless, I'm giving it another try and entering another poetry contest. This one is among the 2006 writing contest from Prairie Fire magazine and Rand McNally book sellers, specifically The Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry Award. I'm submitting three poems this time, the first being entitled "The Town", which is very much a poem akin to my usual dark storywriting. It's the longest of the three. The second is entitled Armageddon's Dawn, inspired by a particularly fiery looking sunrise I saw on the way to work last week, and while not "horror", it's definitely darker. The third of three poems in my submission is called "Autumn Leaves", and is not my typical dark and brooding sort of work; I'm operating on the theory that one shouldn't go too many times to the well and not everyone likes to read about darkness, horror, and lurking fears... and truth be told, sometimes it's nice to write something a little lighter as well.

So time will tell if lightning strikes twice (perhaps a poor selection of phrase, given the magazine holding the contests is called "Prairie Fire") and if more of my poetry wins the approval of the critics.

Even though I'm not a poet. Really, I'm not.

In the Shadow of Leviathan

Writing is always a fluid process... which is probably just a nice way of saying that writers have a tendency to suddenly change directions and go galavanting off in some new direction, either pursuing inspiration or fleeing from the dreaded menace of "writer's block". I've been struggling a bit with Skin Deep, to the point of having drafted two extremely distinctive approaches to the exact same story, and that's usually a bad sign. When a story stalls out, sometimes its a lot like a car with an empty tank of gas: until it gets a fresh tank, it won't move any faster than you can push it, and a lot of times its just not possible to push it where you need it to go.

Diversion has arrived in the form of a couple of story writing contests, including one involving an upcoming theme issue of On Spec magazine. The theme for submissions is "In the Shadow of Leviathan", and I figured I'd give it a try and see how it goes. The various interpretations and mythologies of Leviathan, combined with the broad scope that On Spec has left available for the theme, should make for some interesting stories. Maybe mine will get to be one of them; either way I figure I'll give it a shot.

So Skin Deep is going on the shelf for a month at least; whether it will bloom or fester there only time will tell. Meanwhile, my creative energies are going to be diverted to breathing life into my own spin on Leviathan... which will, most likely, contain many of the darker aspects that come from "writing in shadows".

The Departing Day

Exciting news that arrived in the mail last night (October 4th, 2006). The Poetry Institute of Canada liked my submission, "Nightmares and Nameless Fears", and is going to include it in their annual anthology, which is to be titled "The Departing Day". I was thrilled to have the poem see publication in any form, to be sure, but when I heard the title of the anthology I couldn't help but say to myself, "What an entirely appropriate title for that poem to make its debut in". My wife surprised me with the news over dinner at a local restaurant, and we each had to read the response letter twice before it sank in.

"The Departing Day" is set to come out in January, 2007, in a "fine quality, hardbound deluxe volume". "Nightmares and Nameless Fears" will be in good company, as the volume will include what is being called the best of today's Canadian poetry - I can't help but feel flustered at the idea of something I wrote being included in that description.

The second piece to be written by me since my return to the writing desk, "Nightmares" has given me not only a sense of true accomplishment, but has revitalized my enthusiasm for pursuing what I've described previously as my personal, preferred style. Work continues on "Skin Deep" with a new sense of energy behind it, though I have begun to suspect that in order to fit the limitations of the magazine submission guidelines that it is intended for, the submitted version of "Skin Deep" will need to be revised into a slimmer, abridged version. Hopefully it, too, will be well received and one day I can look back at "Nightmares and Nameless Fears" and say to myself, "This is where it all began."

Regardless of what else happens from here on in, "Nightmares and Nameless Fears" is going to be something I'll remember fondly for years to come.